THEPRP News

Tool Members Speak On The Ideas Behind The Title Of Their New Album “Fear Inoculum”

Tool are the cover stars on the newest issue of Revolver, with each of the band’s members interviewed as part of a massive 20-page feature. While the issue will hit newsstands on August 13th, some subscribers have already obtained their copies with the feature having since surfaced online as a result. Should you prefer to wait for the print edition, you can purchase the issue in a standard print edition or go all-in for a box set edition of the issue featuring five different covers.

Some excerpts from the discussions found within the feature can be found below. Regarding the idea behind the title of the band’s long-awaited new album “Fear Inoculum“, guitarist Adam Jones offered:

“That has to do with getting older, too. Things like, ‘I’m gonna wear socks with sandals. I don’t give a fuck what people think. I’m just gonna be comfortable.’ [Laughs] So it’s about the little things in life. It’s making those choices that are important to you and moving on and growing.

There’s a little bit of Frank Herbert‘s ‘Dune‘ in that, so I’m into it. I’m so excited for this new record. The songs are very long, but they’re like movements. It’s like two or three songs in one, but they relate. They flow. So I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. But I’m ecstatic.”

Jones also described “Fear Inoculum” as being “very different than our last record.” Meanwhile, the band’s drummer Danny Carey echoed much of Jones thoughts when asked what the album is about for him, offering:

“Well, I Suppose the main overview of it is getting older and more comfortable with yourself. That seems to be the result. I mean it’s called ‘Fear Inoculum‘, so it’s kind of like being able to choose your fears and making them work for you rather than actually living in fear.

You grow through that, and as you get older you kinda don’t give a shit. I mean, I’m not afraid of anything — or what people would think of my playing. It’s kind of an evolution in that way, getting through and getting over criticisms and our fears of various kinds, I suppose.”

As the man behind the lyrics, frontman Maynard James Keenan also shared some thoughts on the general themes of the record, offering:

“I can give you some broad strokes, but I don’t want to ruin the experience for you. I feel like that’s always an individual’s right to process things in the way they wanna process them, and I wouldn’t want to take that from you.

But I can give you pieces. Again, it goes back to experience: I feel like this is [about] wisdom through age, through experience.

Hopefully through aging you do find wisdom in some of the things you’ve encountered. Learning from your mistakes, learning from your successes.

So if anything is a broad stroke of this album, it would be embracing where we are right now, acknowledging where we’ve come from and some of the things we’ve grown through.”

With a near 85 minute running time spread across 7 songs and some segues of sorts, Keenan also cautioned that the material may not connect with the current generation conditioned to instant gratification.

After offering an analogy of plot heavy movies like ‘The Godfather‘ and ‘Deer Hunter‘ which require audience investment as opposed to the action-oriented ‘Transformers‘ movies of the day, Keenan stated:

“There’s gonna be a lot of people who might not get this album because it does take engagement. if you don’t have the patience for that, you’re probably not gonna get this album.”